Small Biz CRM Buyer Trends for 2015

Ever wondered what small businesses like yours look for when buying a CRM system?

Well wonder no more, as softwareadvice.com have done all the hard work for you! They evaluated interactions with hundreds of small business buyers in the US, UK and Australia to understand buyers’ most desired applications, features and integrations, as well as their most common reasons for seeking new software.

The key findings were:

Over half of CRM buyers (53 percent) currently use manual methods, such as paper and spreadsheets—up from 44 percent in 2013.

Many small-business buyers (37 percent) seek an integrated suite of multiple CRM applications, up from just 7 percent in 2013.

Most small-business buyers (71 percent) prefer a cloud-based over on-premise CRM system—up from just 48 percent in 2013.

CRM buyers in the U.S. are over three times more likely than U.K. or AU buyers to request social media functionality or integrations.

Jay Harvey ,market research associate at Software Advice says

“The vast majority of small-business CRM buyers are still looking for basic contact management, with 62 percent seeking a standalone application for sales force automation (SFA). That’s no surprise. SFA is typically the first step for businesses to organize their customer data and track customer interactions across the sales funnel. As such, it’s long been the first thing small businesses look for when it comes time to adopt a real CRM technology strategy.

Many Australian buyers (34 percent) are also beginning to request an integrated suite that combines SFA with marketing automation. So small businesses are increasingly looking to implement a full, end-to-end CRM solution. They want to better aligns marketing and sales. They want to enable sales reps with access to lead nurturing data and interaction histories from across the sales pipeline. This means growing opportunities for vendors that offer a broader small-business-centric suite of sales, marketing and service applications, and for vendors of standalone solutions that offer integrations with popular services such as Gmail, MailChimp and Zapier.

When we asked small-business CRM buyers why they were evaluating software, the most common response was that they were simply interested to learn more about how CRM software in general could help their business, or about how more robust systems might improve upon their current solution. This is consistent with Gartner’s research, as well, which suggests that an increasing majority of buyers are citing “self-driven information search” as their most preferred method at every stage of the buying cycle.

This highlights the need for CRM providers to ensure that they’re in a position to be found when buyers research potential options—whether through search engine optimization, content marketing, driving B2B software reviews or other inbound marketing efforts.”

Here are the statistics below

1. Prospective Buyers Current Methods to Manage Clients/Customers

In 90% of our encounters with small businesses in Australia, spreadsheets are typically their current method of managing their customers. They come to us when they can no longer keep track of everything in an efficient manner.

2. Nearly All Buyers Request Sales Force Automation (SFA)

Sales force automation is the ability to track potential sales and interactions and schedule automated follow ups thus keeping track of the sales pipeline. This is one of the most requested features from all of the businesses that we meet.

3. Top-Requested CRM Integrations in Australia

We have never come across a business who has not asked for a CRM to be integrated with their mail client or calendar. Therefore the findings below did not suprise us!

4. Australian Buyers’ Reasons for Evaluating Software

As small businesses grow their client database, it becomes increasingly harder to manage via manual methods. Therefore having a CRM system which is cloud based and has a multitude of features to help automate manual tasks becomes a necessity.

Sankhya Consultants are experts in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Data Mining and Predictive Analytics.
We have over 20 years experience in the IT industry and have completed CRM implementations in various industries.
We also have extensive knowledge in Data Mining , Business Intelligence and Predictive Analytics.
In a nutshell we work with your business and help you:
- Understand your CRM business objectives and advise you on how to build fantastic relationships with your clients to get more sales and repeat business.
- Streamline and automate your pre-sales, sales and post-sales processes to help save you time so you can work ON your business not IN your business.
- Select the right CRM tool for your needs
- Configure the tool specifically for your business
- Train your people to use the tool effectively in line with your business objectives
If you already have an existing CRM system, but not sure if you are using it to it’s fullest potential, we can help you out there too.
So please contact us to see how we can help you save more time and build long lasting relationships with your clients.